"Water to Supply the Land" Describes Irrigated Agriculture in the Colorado River Basin

Earlier this year, the Institute released a report on irrigated agriculture called Water to Supply the Land: Irrigated Agriculture in the Colorado River Basin. The magnitude of a continuing 14-year drought in the Colorado River basin and subsequent shortages in the Upper Basin, as well as likelihood that a shortage will be declared in the Lower Basin within the next few years, has increased attention on agricultural water use within the basin. Communications Intern Joe Ferrell spoke with the lead author of the report, Michael Cohen, to highlight key findings.

Water to Supply the Land compiles and compares data from state and federal agencies on irrigated land and water use. The report finds that more than 90 percent of pasture and cropland in the Colorado River basin receives supplemental water to make the land viable for agriculture. This irrigated land extends across some 3.2 million acres within the basin, while water exported from the basin reportedly helps irrigate another 2.5 million acres in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and southern California. Irrigating this much land requires a lot of water, consuming roughly 70 percent of the basin's water supply (not including evaporation or exports). One of the prominent features of the report is a series of scenarios that explore different methods to make irrigation more efficient. When implemented, these methods could help to bridge the water supply-demand imbalance that has driven reservoir storage down by 50 percent in the basin and that threatens future water availability.

Read the blog post here.

Read the report here. 

Haciendo Conexiones Workshop Links Spanish-Speaking Residents to Community Health Resources

Catalina Garz�n, director of the Community Strategies for Sustainability and Justice Program, and Jessica Parra-Fitch, popular education associate, helped to facilitate a community workshop on freight transport and community health at the Cesar Chavez Branch of the Oakland Public Library. The Haciendo Conexiones/Making Connections workshop was held in partnership with the Ditching Dirty Diesel Collaborative, the Alameda Healthy Homes Program at the Alameda County Public Health Department, and Contra Costa Health Services. The workshop was conducted in Spanish and drew on activities from the Institute's recently released Spanish-language version of the Gearing Up for Action curriculum guide on freight transport and community health.

In addition to making connections between diesel traffic and quality-of-life concerns such as pedestrian safety, the workshop featured guest speakers from the Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Initiative in Concord's Monument Corridor and TransForm about community organizing and advocacy efforts for transportation justice and healthier neighborhoods. Attendees shared their experiences with diesel truck and train traffic in the Fruitvale District and East Oakland and wrote in their evaluations that they felt more empowered to make changes in their communities as a result of participating in the workshop. For more information, or to learn more about how to bring a workshop like this to your community, please contact Program Director Catalina Garz�n at [email protected] or at 510.251.1600 x108.

Read the Gearing Up for Action curriculum guide in Spanish and English.

The Institute's Corporate Sustainability Program recently launched an online survey as part of a project, conducted in partnership with VOX Global, to better understand U.S.-based company perspectives on the water-related challenges businesses face here in the States and how they are going about addressing those challenges, if at all. The project team invites U.S.-based companies to participate in this survey so that their perspectives and insights are captured in the final report to be released in the first quarter of 2014. While the results of this study will be released publicly, all data will be released in the aggregate, and individual responses are strictly confidential.

To access the survey, Company Perspectives on Water Challenges and Response Strategies in the United States, go to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/companywaterchallenges. 

-How much water will this new system take out of the Delta? 

-What will this infrastructure, or the water it provides, cost?

-Who's going to pay for it?

-Can I look at a cost-benefit study or an evaluation of alternative options?

-Will the ecosystem repairs and restoration happen along with the infrastructure construction?

-What rules will govern its operation and who will strictly monitor and enforce those rules?

-What provisions will be put in place to change the operating rules as climate change increasingly alters water conditions and in the event that new science shows new problems or advantages?

Dr. Gleick concludes: "Honest and complete answers to the questions posed above must be provided if California voters and decision-makers are to make informed choices about the path forward for California water. Good water policy in California will only come about if it is guided by sound science, eyes-open analysis, and public transparency."

Read the full Op-Ed here. 

In Brief 
Staff News

Dr. Juliet Christian-Smith, who has worked with the Institute on a wide range of projects over the past five years, has moved to the Union of Concerned Scientists as a climate scientist. We were delighted to have her here at the Institute and look forward to continuing to work with her in her new position.

Pacific Institute staff members gave talks and lectures, conducted workshops, and participated on panels far and wide this month. Here are some of the places we've been:

Heather Cooley, Water Program Co-Director:

- gave a presentation at the CalDesal Annual Conference in San Diego on the energy requirements for seawater desalination.

- gave a presentation in Sacramento at the Water Energy Team of the Climate Action Team's monthly meeting on water rates and revenue stability.

-made a presentation titled "Sea Level Rise and California's Infrastructure" at the California Assembly Hearing for the Select Committee on Sea Level Rise and the California Economy and Select Committee on the Ports in Long Beach, Calif.

- gave a keynote talk on the water-energy nexus at the 224^th Electrochemical Society meeting in San Francisco, Calif.

- led a discussion at the California Water Plan Update 2013 Plenary on California's Water Footprint in Sacramento, Calif.

Michael Cohen, Water Program Senior Research Associate:

- presented on the future of the Salton Sea and the need for decisive action at the 5^th Annual Imperial Valley Environmental Health Leadership Summit at Imperial Valley College.
- presented "Bridging the Water Supply-Demand Imbalance in the Colorado River Basin" at

Kristina Donnelly, Water Program Research Associate, and Heather Cooley, Water Program Co-Director:

- presented at the California Municipal Utilities Association Annual Meeting in Sacramento, Calif. on the opportunities for water and energy utilities to partner with one another in support of water conservation and efficiency to save water and energy.

Catalina Garz�n, Community Strategies for Sustainability and Justice Program Director:

- attended the NAS Sackler Symposium at 150: Celebrating Service to the Nation in Washington D.C. and spoke on a panel on climate science and policy.
- gave the keynote address Fairmount Water Works 10^th Anniversary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- participated on a panel at the 2013 Philomathia Symposium on Water titled "Water, Climate and Society: Challenges and Strategies in a Rapidly Changing World" in Berkeley, California. Dr. Gleick also gave a talk on "Water, Cities, and Infrastructure: Innovations in Technology and Affordability."

Mai-Lan Ha, Corporate Sustainability Research Associate:

- participated as a judge for AT&T-EDF's Ideathon, "How Would You Address the Water Crisis," at the 2013 Net Impact conference. 

Ensia Magazine quoted Senior Research Associate Dr. Juliet Christian-Smith on new minds entering the water utilities field. Read it here. 

Dr. Peter Gleick spoke on the International Monetary Fund Podcast about how we need to radically change how we consume water. Listen to it here.

Dr. Gleick also spoke at Philadelphia's Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center's 10^th Anniversary celebration to discuss world-wide water challenges with his talk "Global Water Challenges and Solutions."  In anticipation of the event, Peter Gleick participated in interviews with CBS Philly and the Green Philly Blog. 

John Fleck from the Albuquerque Journal interviewed Senior Research Associate Michael Cohen about the steep decline in Albuquerque's water use this year. Mr. Cohen talks about the long-term behavioral changes in water conservation caused as a result of droughts. Read it here. 

Once again, read Dr. Peter Gleick's Op-Ed in the Sacramento Bee on California's proposed tunnels in the Delta here.